20.1 million people watched the Kentucky Derby, the most since 1989 KSR
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More people watched Saturday’s 150th running of the Kentucky Derby than any Derby in the last 35 years. 20.1 million viewers tuned into the race, the most ever for an NBC-broadcasted horserace. Back in 1989, 18.5 million people watched Sunday Silence win the race on ABC.
To be fair, 20.1 million was the peak, but the entire coverage still averaged 16.7 million sets of eyeballs. This number is up nine percent over last year. This rendition of the Derby also became the most-streamed Derby ever, with 714,000 viewers on Peacock, more than doubling last year’s numbers.